Blakely's NBA Power Rankings: Bear necessities

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Blakely's NBA Power Rankings: Bear necessities

BOSTON — We're still working with a relatively small sample of games, but there are some clear trends that are worth noting.

Memphis is playing as if every game is a playoff match. It's great to see but you have to wonder whether they're expending too much energy now and won't have enough to take it to another level in the playoffs.

Houston has a great record, but there's something about that team that makes me very leery of putting them into the conversation as a legit, title contender.

The Eastern Conference is shaping up for the most part how most expected, although who would have guessed the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks would have near-identical records at this point?

Those are just some of the teams we'll take a closer look at in this week's Power rankings.

TRAILING THE PACK

24. Oklahoma City (Record: 3-8. Last week 22) - Aside from wins, nowhere is the absence of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant more noticeable than the Thunder's league-worst 5.2 fast break points per game.

23. Denver (Record: 3-7: Last week 27) - Keep an eye on Brian Shaw, because he's likely to be the first coach to get the axe this year.

22. Orlando (Record: 5-7. Last week 25) - Victor Oladipo's back, so look for the Magic to steadily rise up the rankings this season.

21. Charlotte (Record: 4-7. Last week 20) - Hornets struggling to regain that defensive mojo they had last year, having dropped four of their last five games.

20. Indiana (Record: 4-7. Last week 23) - Coming off huge 99-90 win at Chicago, Pacers should build off of that with next two games at home.

19. Brooklyn (Record: 4-6. Last week 13) - The further removed we are from the Paul Pierce-Kevin Garnett trade with Boston, the more lopsided this deal looks.

14. Miami (Record: 6-5. Last week 6) - Dropped three of last four in large part because they have taken a league-low 71.8 field goal attempts during that span.

13. Cleveland (Record: 5-4. Last week 15) - The title drought will continue in Cleveland if the Cavs don't improve their defense which is giving up 103.1 points per game, the seventh-highest point total allowed per game.